Pope Leo to spend part of July at papal summer residence

By CathNews New Zealand

July 4th, 2025

One of the gardens of the papal villas at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

Pope Leo XIV will leave Rome on July 6 to spend two weeks at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, bringing back a centuries-old tradition. Source: Catholic News Service.

Pope Leo will also celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary for the whole town and visitors on August 15 in line with tradition, according to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed that Pope Leo would be staying in the Villa Barberini, the former summer residence of the Vatican secretaries of state. Pope Francis turned the former papal palace on the town’s main square into a museum, which opened in 2016.

All private audiences with the Pope will be suspended during July, including the Wednesday general audiences, which will resume on July 30, the prefecture said in a communique on June 17.

“On the afternoon of Sunday, July 6, the Holy Father Leo XIV will move to the pontifical villas of Castel Gandolfo for a period of rest” until the afternoon of July 20, it said.

The communique listed the dates on which the Pontiff would celebrate Masses in churches in the region south of Rome. Pope Leo will return to the papal summer villa for the three-day holiday weekend of August 15-17.

Castel Gandolfo was the summer residence of popes from 1626 until the election of Pope Francis, who chose to stay at the Vatican and not escape Rome’s summer heat at the cooler hilltop papal villas.

The town had relied on the massive influx of tourists and visitors during the period when popes would vacation there and greet the public at the Sunday Angelus. The highlight was always the feast of the Assumption of Mary on August 15 when the pope would celebrate Mass for the whole town and thousands of visitors. To attract visitors back to the town year-round and not just in the summer, Pope Francis turned the palace into a museum and opened the villa’s gardens to tours.

On May 29, Pope Leo visited the Borgo Laudato Si’ ecology project set up by Pope Francis in 2023 at the papal villa and farm in Castel Gandolfo, as well as the former papal summer residence there.

FULL STORY

Pope Leo XIV will escape Rome’s heat in July by going to papal villa | USCCB (By Carol Glatz/CNS)